Unplug Yourself is excited to bring us all the full Catan Boardgame experience at Comic Con Africa this year to enjoy.
Playing Catan over the weekend with a friend, using all these Gamegenic products included has been the most fun I’ve had in weeks. It helped me reclaim a side of myself that enjoys strategy and fun. I highly recommend coming out to play at Comic Con Africa this year and for those a little more competitive this next bit is for you.
Do you have the grit, the guts, the sheer luck to be South Africa’s Catan Champion?
At this year’s Comic Con Africa, Unplug Yourself will be hosting the 2023 Nationals event where the winner will be jetting off to the 2024 Catan World Championships.
As for Brett Fish, the winner of the last Nationals, Solarpop paid for his flight to the World Championships to represent South Africa while Catan paid for his hotel and food. The trip felt like the prize. Brett Fish played for South Africa in 2022. He placed seventh overall and was the first South African in history to go through to round two.
Philip Galliford, spokesperson for Unplug Yourself explains;
“There are only a hundred places, and we anticipate a scramble for tickets. Winning this Catan tournament will be a very big deal, a prestigious accolade because the victor will represent South Africa at the 2024 Catan World Championships.”
Location
Unplug Yourself will be operating from the Black Eagle Conference Hall, which is accessible through multiple doors in Hall 6 and outwards facing doors between Hall 7 and 8. It is also accessible from the food truck section. Adjacent from KFC Kentucky Town.
A game of strategy and chance
In the words of the late Klaus Teuber, the designer of Catan: “When I play a game, I play intuitively. I don’t like games where you have to think too much, where luck plays no part and the better player always wins. Chance makes things more exciting. If I know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow, things get boring. It’s the same in a game. I prefer it that way.”
Since its release in 1995, Catan has grown into one of the world’s favourite tabletop games. Fans understand that it is not simply a game of strategy but one of chance. One does not need to be a board game savant to win at Catan, and this is part of its enormous appeal.
2024 will see the next Catan World Championships taking place and Catan players the world over will be vying for their spot to represent their country. The same is happening on home soil – the best player from 2023, together with the best player of 2024 will be sent to the Championship.
To enter the Catan tournament at Comic Con Africa click here.
A ticket to Comic Con Africa for 23 September as well as your Quicket ticket will be required to participate in this event. For more information head to this link.
Basic nuts and bolts of Catan
Imagine you and your group of settlers come upon the perfect land to start your settlement. You have resources around you and you start to build. You build roads, gather resources, and grow a bigger settlement. Things do sometimes go wrong—robbers steal your resources, and opponents outsmart you. But you keep going. You trade with other settlements, win victories and eventually your settlement grows so large it becomes a city.
So, how does a player win? Whoever accumulates ten points first is the winner. Points are earned by having or accomplishing certain things, settlements, cities, the longest road, or the largest army.
Proclaimed as one of the most addictive games ever invented, Catan is widely played by young and old, both far and wide. Families and friends bond over Catan with its world of intrepid settlers, roads, and harbours.
Silicon Valley insiders love to network over a game of Catan. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and former Mozilla chief executive John Lilly have all been known to network over a game of Catan. It is believed to be similar to entrepreneurial strategy.
It is one of the most popular board games worldwide and has been translated into 30 different languages, selling over 18 million copies.
Join us this year at Comic Con Africa, visit the Unplug Yourself Zone for all the tabletop gaming and board gaming adventures. Come as a beginner or a veteran, all are welcome. Come to unplug and just play.
